The Epistolary
Inspiration of Vermeer

By

Heidi Waleson

Updated July 20, 2000 12:14 a.m. ET

New York

T he first thing you notice in "Writing to Vermeer ," the opera by Louis Andriessen and Peter Greenaway that had its U.S. premiere at the Lincoln Center Festival recently, is the yellow, fur-trimmed dress worn by one of the singers. We've seen it before, in a painting by Vermeer. The jewel-like color is exact, and it conjures up the painting, even though the film image of that painting won't be shown until later in the opera. That instinctive familiarity makes us think we know where we are, even though...